Jesse Rau and Dawid Pawlowski stand with Bill Whatcott after being bear sprayedwhile defending other Street Church members who were attacked by Antifa gangsterswho were sent to disrupt Whatcott's message in defense of religious liberty that was scheduledto be delivered in front of Calgary City Hall on Sunday afternoon, July 16, 2017.

Whatcott preaching while being f-bombed and insulted by Antifa protesters

Whatcott preaching while Antifa thugs try to shout him down

Dear Friends,

I drove from Edmonton to Calgary City Hall after attending my service to make the Street Church religious freedom rally where I was invited to speak on Sunday. Heavy traffic and a couple accidents slowed me down the QE 2 Highway a little more than expected and inspite of my best efforts I got to the rally 30 minutes late. When I arrived I learned that Rob Anders (the other speaker) was already gone and Pastor Art informed me Antifa showed up and engaged in violence against Street Church and those who attended the rally to prevent me from speaking.

Several Street Church members were injured, police and ambulances were on the scene; I learned women and children were actually attacked by Antifa thugs and I decided that my prepared speech was not really that relevant as it was clear more violence was quite possible. By the time I arrived, the Antifa thugs were depleted in numbers and energy, but were still screaming and trying to get at me and my friends. It was also clear the men led by Pastor Art Pawlowski were still quite prepared to punch back if attacked. Jesse and Dawid gave me hugs as I walked on to the podium, both had injuries inflicted on them by the Antifa thugs and were bear sprayed.

Pastor Art was preaching and indicting the Calgary Police for not stopping the violence inflicted against his church and at this point I decided if we were assaulted again I would defend my Street Church brothers and sisters who were standing in support of me. I showed up in a tie and dress clothes and decided if violence was going to happen again I did not want a tie on my kneck as it could be a dangerous weapon used against me, so I took my tie and shirt off and started doing stretches to loosen my body up. Some of the police were looking uneasily at me as I removed my dress clothes and started stretching while Antifa activists were swearing and chanting at me and my brothers and sisters.

Pastor Art informed the Calgary Police Sergeant that we did not want to fight, but that if the police were not going to protect us, we would hit back. It seemed to me the police started doing their job a little more impartially and they started aggressively controlling the Antifa mob. So after removing my dress clothes and stretching I started preaching while wearing one of Pastor Art's "Jesus Make Canada Great Again" t-shirts. The rest of the story can be seen in the videos of my preaching that is linked in this update.

A rally in front of city hall erupted in violence on Sunday as anti-fascist protesters clashed with members of Calgary's Street Church.

The gathering was billed as In Defence of Christianity and was to feature controversial anti-gay and anti-abortion activist Bill Whatcott. Scuffles broke out between the two groups, lasting for several minutes.

The counter-protest was organized by Calgary Anti-Fascist Action.

At one point, several people begin to push and shove on the sidewalk in front of city hall and some kicks and punches were thrown.

The skirmish then moved onto Macleod Trail S.E., with several people fighting and kicks and more punches being thrown.

EMS treated several people at the scene for minor injuries, but no one was taken to hospital.

No arrests — yet

No arrests were made but that could change, said Det. Keith Silvester.

"Investigators will be looking into it, going over video... and if we deem that arrests are necessary, people will be arrested and charged," he said.

The Street Church group had a permit to host an event, said Silvester.

Police didn't expect the opposing group to show up as well.

There have been several clashes between rival protest groups in front of Calgary city hall in recent months, but this was the first that became violent.

In early June, members of the Worldwide Coalition Against Islam protesting against M103 clashed with members of Calgary Anti-Fascist Action.

End of news report--------------------------------------

"Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word. Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me!"Psalm 119:17-19